SapuraKencana signs Malaysia's largest Islamic loan worth US$2.3b

[KUALA LUMPUR] SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, a Malaysian oil and gas services firm, said on Thursday it has signed a US$2.3 billion Islamic loan with 11 lenders.

The transaction, which will convert part of the company's conventional borrowing into a syariah-based facility, is Malaysia's largest ever.

"With the completion of this transaction, SapuraKencana is now on track to return to the Securities Commission's list of syariah compliant securities by meeting the debt over total assets financial ratio benchmark," it said in a press statement.

SapuraKencana was omitted from the latest list of Malaysian syariah-compliant stocks as its conventional debt amounted to more than two-thirds of a its total assets.

REUTERS